A Lesson in Proper Bow-fluffing Technique

Holiday Solo Show.  1 Man.  33 Pages. 75min.

A fast-paced, one-man play set in a busy department store during the mad crush of the holiday shopping season.   Trey plays a harried customer service representative who’s seen it all!  His only refuge from the hectic front desk is the gift wrap nook, where he slips away whenever possible for a few moments of peace and quiet fluffing bows.  But this year his world is turned upside down when the store hires a group of bright, developmentally challenged students to fluff bows for the store.  Undaunted, Trey quickly appoints himself bow-fluffing coach--but he soon discovers that teaching the fine art of bow fluffing to a group of teens whose hearts aren’t in it is harder than he ever imagined!  To read an excerpt, click here. 

(A Lesson in Proper Bow-Fluffing Technique, Storey Productions/Moving Arts at Praxis Studios, 2004.  Directed by Lee Costello.  Pictured: Trey Nichols. Photo by Larry Mitchell)

The Meadows

Coming of Age Comedy/Drama.  4 men, 2 women.  151 pages.  2 1/2 hours. 

The English translation of "Las Vegas" is "the meadows.  It's hard to believe that such a place was once green with nature instead of green with cash, envy and bile.  In this coming of age play, naive, brash Alex Conroy has kidnapped his best friend Pete Transeth for a wild week in Las Vegas.  Comedy, mayhem and heartache ensue as the bonds of friendship are tested for two boys on the cusp of manhood.  Ah, to be young, dumb, and full of cum.  For a piece of the action, click here, Tiger.

(The Meadows,  Moving Arts,  2000.  Directed by Julie Briggs.  L to R: Kristi Marie Jones, Walter A. Lutz Jr., David Hoffman.  Photo by Ilona Lieberman.)

Murphy's Xmas (adapted from the short story by Mark Costello)

Lyrical Comedy/Drama.  3 Men, 3 Women, 1 Man or Woman. 

99 pages.  90 minutes.

"Murphy's drunk on the bright verge of still another Christmas and a car door slams."  Thus begins the  harrowing--and often hilarious--holiday odyssey of Michael Murphy: teacher; lover; father; drunk.  Armed with rum and egg nog and a bad attitude, he finds no relief from a chorus of conscience embodied by a sly, meddling narrator who won't let him escape the choices that have brought him to a Christmas in the cold.  Celebrated Illinois author Mark Costello's darkly comical short story Murphy's Xmas comes alive in this faithful adapation which incorporates other pieces from Costello's collection "The Murphy Stories."  For a brief bender, spill here.

(Murphy's Xmas , Moving Arts, 1996.  Directed by Lee Wochner.  L to R: David Shofner, Kathleen Clark. Photo by Lee Wochner.)

Body Found

Ensemble of 9 men and 6 women playing multiple roles.  Workshop draft undergoing revision/reformatting.  Approximately 70 pages.

A theatrical exhumation and disquisition of Hollywood's most ghastly and infamous unsolved murder case and its aftermath.  Originally presented by Moving Arts for the Edge of the World Theater Festival's LA History Project, 2000.  (Excerpt available soon.)

One-Act and Ten-Minute Plays

Move

Somewhat twisted adult comedy. 1 Man, 3 Women.  34 pages.  35 minut

"I've seen the cozy and the cozy is us!" First-time homebuyers Denny and Katherine find the foreclosure of their dreams in a neighborhood that's really taking off!  There's only one catch...it's still occupied by the silent ghost of the former owner, a constant reminder of the misery that made their dreams come true.  Commissioned by Moving Arts for its 15th annual Premiere One-Act Festival.  For a quick tour, step here.

(Move, Moving Arts at Son of Semele, 2009. Directed by Lee Wochner.  L to R: Elizabeth Ann Harris, Rebecca Davis, Brian Newkirk, Laura Buckles.  Photo by Jay Lawton.)

 

 

Sunni Triangle

Drama.  2 Women, 1 Man.  12 pages.  20 minutes.

A triptych of monologues for people that hate monologue plays: Wendy is bracing herself for a talk with her meddling mother-in-law Miriam that may ruin her marriage.  Miriam is on her way to tell Wendy she has inoperable cancer.  Wendy's husband Hart is passing the days at his old high school, having been down-sized by his company...run by his own brother-in-law.  And a beloved nephew is home from war. To read an excerpt, click here.

(Sunni Triangle, staged reading in The War Plays Project, Moving Arts, 2008.  Directed by Susan Lee.  In photo: Michael Shutt.  Photo by Trey Nichols.)

PCH

Sad little comedy.  1 Man, 1 Woman.  10 pages.

Kurt and Amy are on their way to sign divorce papers, but their car has come to a complete stop. Engine won't start, and their cell phones are dead.  And that's just the beginning.   Want a ride? Click here. 

(PCH, "The Car Plays."  Moving Arts at Woodbury University, 2009.  Directed by Darrell Kunitomi.  L to R: Michael Shutt, Sara Wagner.  Photo by Trey Nichols.)

Impact

Comedy/drama. 2 Men.  10 pages.

A man shopping for a used car finds a sweet ride listed in the Auto Trader...and realizes the seller is his old high  school tormentor.  But the long overdue confrontation doesn't quite go as planned when it becomes clear that the former bully is now a pathetic shadow of his former bad self.  To hop in the back seat, click here.

(Impact, "The Car Plays," Moving Arts at Woodbury University, 2009.  Directed by Josh Galitsky.  L to R: Tim Orona, Joe Gill.  Photo by Trey Nichols.)

Pina Coladas

(Photo not available)

Comedy.  1 Man, 1 Woman.  10 pages.

An oddly inspired goof on the Rupert Holmes' song Escape (The Pina Colada Song).  Shortly after leaving a party, married couple Carl and Claire hit a pedestrian, possibly fatally, complicating Claire's plans to leave Carl later that night with his best friend Larry--the party's host!  Their marriage is put to the test, illusions shattered.  But will love be renewed, as in the song?  If you like making love at midnight, click here.

One Slit Head

Comedy/Drama. 1 Man, 2 Women.  29 pages.  25 minutes.

Things get weird during a drug raid when a jumpy sheriff's deputy takes it upon himself to interrogate a mysterious, suspected opium grower named Z.  If you like Pez candy, don't click here.  Just enjoy some while Trey reformats this play from the original obsolete software.

(One Slit Head, Saviors & Suspects: Moving Arts' Premiere One-Act Festival, 1998.  Directed by Chopper Burnett.  L to R: Rideaux Baldwin, Liesel Kopp, Robin Johnson.)

Fathers at a Game

Drama.  3 Men.  46 pages.  48 minutes.

Former Army buddies  Moe and Eddie are spending a mellow afternoon watching their teen-aged sons play football...or are they?  Is that the sound of gunfire in the distance?  Fantasy competes with reality in a deadly battle of wills.  War is hell and so is football...even when Reagan High has the winning team.  Go Eagles! (Finalist in Heresy and Hearsay,  Moving Arts' Premiere One-Act Festival, 1995.)  For play-by-play action, click here.

(Fathers at a Game (staged reading), Arrowhead Theatre at City Lights Theatre, 1991.  L to R: James Nichols, Trey Nichols. Photo by Calder Lowe.)

Security

Drama.  2 Men.  44 pages.

This is the play that started it all.  Or whatever.  Security was Trey's first play, written during winter break his junior year in college, while working graveyard shift as a security guard to earn much-needed holiday cash.  This was way back before the internet was "The Web" in any popular sense, when all lines were "land" lines and DOS was king!  The play is a generational battle of wits, infused with Cold War anxiety and technophobia.  Veteran security guard Jake Fell has worked the graveyard shift alone nearly all of his adult life.  On this night, he receives a surprise visitor; Paul, a fresh-faced rookie guard, who claims he's been sent from the main office for training.  The "training" session becomes a kind territorial war, with mindgames around every corner and the threat of violence lying beneath the smallest word and gesture.  Security was a winner of Northwestern University's Agnes Nixon Playwriting Contest (One-Act Category) and The Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival's Student Playwriting Award (Region III).   Script will uploaded  to website shortly.

(No photo available.  But pictured would be actors Harry J. Lennix as Jake Fell and Joel Dubois as Paul Hardeman.  And in a rehearsal picture, you might see director Jon Cameron Mitchell making numerous script changes and Trey somewhere off to the side tearing his hair out, which at that time was quite thick and lustrous.)